The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Pocket billiards, which is commonly referred to as “pool,” is a commonly played game of both amateurs and professionals. In order to be successful at playing billiards, one must have both the knowledge of where to strike a cue ball and the other balls to produce the desired ball movement, such as into one of the holes, and also the user must have the shot making skill to make the shot correctly. The knowledge of ball striking and movement is often obtained through personal instruction, literature, and/or experience. The typical occasional player can be somewhat successful by “eye-balling” both the desired point of impact between the cue stick and the cue ball, and between the cue ball and the object ball, and then attempting the shot. However, because of the variation in “eye-balling” between each shot, that method necessarily requires a great many shots before the player develops the skill to make it properly and consistently. However, to develop advanced skill in shot making, a player must practice shots during many hours of practice of repeating the same or similar ball placement and shots.
For example, to become proficient and a skilled player, the player must develop the skill to impart spin or “English” on the cue ball to affect its trajectory, as well as the trajectory of the object ball or balls. English is used by skilled players to control the cue ball after impact with an object ball for placement of the cue ball for the next shot. English is also used to provide for placement of the cue ball following a shot to make an opponents next shot more difficult, to prevent the cue ball from rolling into one of the pockets following a shot, commonly called a scratch, and/or imparting spin onto an object ball. As such, a player must develop the requisite skill to effectively impart English to a cue ball and understand how the cue ball will react in various situational shot types.
While there have been several training methods and systems for spotting balls on tables to enable a player to repeat shots, these are not easily used or readily available to many users or at various locations. As such, the inventor of the present invention has developed a device, system and method for aiding in the training and development of skill in billiard shot making.